Question

Critically evaluate American Foreign Policy towards Pakistan.​

Answer 1

Answer:

The United States has been a major player in Pakistan for sixty years; if Pakistan is dangerously dysfunctional, Washington helped enable it to get this way. As withdrawal from Afghanistan means that the United States will be less dependent on Pakistani supply lines, Washington has a rare opportunity to reconsider and dramatically revise its existing policies and practices in a country of great strategic importance.

Carnegie’s George Perkovich discussed ways in which the United States could redesign its approach to Pakistan after decades of empowering the nation’s hyperactive military and intelligence services at the expense of effective governance. Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post moderated.

ENABLING PAKISTAN’S DYSFUNCTION

Decades of collusion: Since the early 1950s, the United States has worked with the Pakistan Army and intelligence services to advance U.S. strategic interests. Following the 9/11 attacks in 2011, Washington funded and relied on Pakistan security forces to defeat the Taliban government and drive al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan. Perkovich argued that this collusion has amounted to empowering of the Pakistan military establishment, which has directly ruled the country for more than half of its existence, without changing its obsession with contesting India. This posture is also leading Pakistan to ruin and precluding its full cooperation with U.S. objectives in Afghanistan.

The military’s external projection: The Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI) obsession with India has led to over-projection of power externally and under-projection of state resources and attention to deal with internal crises, Perkovich said.

Grave internal problems: Pakistani citizens lack a singular national identity and the institutions of a progressive modern state. Perkovich argued that the Pakistan state, led by the army, has done too little to redress domestic injustices, economic failure, and poor governance. These problems would remain grave even if India did not exist and cannot be effectively redressed as long as the Army dominates the political economy.